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Three physicians at the Health Sciences Center were honored with the St. Luke's Day Award. The award is named after the patron saint of physicians and is given to doctors who have a strong partnership with the department of pastoral care, who show a concern for the whole patient during treatment and who demonstrate a faith-filled life when working with staff and patients.
This winners were Harvey Solomon, M.D., associate professor of surgery; Sharon Frey, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine; and John Visconti, D.O., assistant professor of internal medicine. The awards were presented by Mary Lou Bennett, director of the department of pastoral care.
Bennett said Solomon was chosen because of his sensitivity to patients and families. "He will speak with families and sit with them in their realization of pain," Bennett said. "He always is willing to come back and answer questions. He routinely gives referrals to pastoral care. He shares his medical facts, even to the point of inviting the chaplain on his service to view surgery."
Frey was selected because Bennett said she is a woman of heart and service. "She finds the precious commodity of time somewhere in the midst of her regular commitments to go beyond just duty," Bennett said. "She serves frequently and responds immediately for ethics consults. In this capacity, her reports are clear, and her sense of justice serves our institution admirably. She volunteers at the Vietnamese clinic. She has gone during her vacation periods to serve in Bosnia, Somalia and the former Soviet Union. In addition, Dr. Frey currently is completing a months-long educational video project for women with AIDS."
Bennett said Visconti was chosen because he projects an attitude of being a partner with the interdisciplinary team. "He listens and takes time with this team to share his perspective so that what he's doing for a patient is understood by the whole treatment team," Bennett said. "He is aware of his patients' and families' needs and carries them in his heart, not just his chart. How we know this is that he will give referral in the corridor, in the clinic, coming out of a patient room or at discharge planning. His thoroughness and care is so much felt by his patients that one patient is persuading his referring physicians to lure him to this patient's native town."